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Pros and Cons of a Firefighter

Being a firefighter all over the world is not only risky but also involves a lot of sacrifices. This means that as a firefighter, every day is a risk. Below are some of the pros and cons of being a firefighter.

 

Pros:

1. Sense of Fulfillment in Your Career: Firefighting is a public service job. Firefighters not only protect community members from dangerous fires; they are also committed to educating the public about safety.

2. You Get Paid to Sleep on the Job Sometimes: Depending on how your local firehouse sets up shifts, you may sometimes get paid to sleep on the job. Firehouses need firefighters to be available at a moment’s notice, so it typically means working overnight shifts sometimes. You may get a call in the middle of the night, but you may also just sleep all night.

3. Public Approval of Your Job: Firefighting isn’t the kind of profession where other people have ethical concerns and questions about what you do. You can find comfort in knowing that nobody is going to disapprove of the work that you do.

4. Good Benefits and Job Security: Because it’s a government job, firefighters get good government benefits and job security. This ensures stability for you and your family members.

5. You Get to Save People’s Lives: One of the most rewarding aspects of a career as a firefighter is the fact that by putting out fires, you may be saving people’s lives. This is the kind of fulfilment from a job that you can only get by working with the public.

6. Builds your confidence sometimes: Being a firefighter means that you always have to expose yourself to serious risks everyday. This means you must always be confident about the next possible risk at all times.

7. Better at equipment handling: All firefighters are quick and smart in their operation. They are also fast because their jobs always involve saving lives and property. For this, they are always quick at handling equipment.

8. Good benefits after retirement: Firefighters are some of the best compensated jobs in the world. They work for the government and save many lives in the course of their jobs and this means they have to be adequately compensated.

9. Social satisfaction: Firefighters always get a sense of social satisfaction knowing that people hold them in high regard.

10. Greater responsibility: There is a great responsibility on the shoulders of firefighters. This means that their jobs are valuable and people always respect what they do.

 

Cons:

1. Unusual Shifts: Depending on the locality you’re working for, you usually have to work in shifts of 24-48 hours with a few days break in-between each shift. If you’re looking for a nice 9-5 job, then firefighting definitely isn’t for you.

2. Constant Training and Chores: Part of a firefighter’s job requires maintaining physical fitness to be able to enter burning buildings and sometimes carry people out of them. This means working hard physically while you’re at work. Firefighters also have to do chores while they’re at the firehouse, so it’s not like you get to sit around and watch TV all day while you’re at work.

3. Dangerous Job Duties: A pretty obvious downside to firefighting is that you put yourself in potentially harmful situations by entering burning buildings and trying to evacuate other people before you evacuate yourself. This disadvantage can affect both you and your family members.

4. Pay Isn’t Great: The national average salary for firefighters is around $47,600 per year. If you’re looking for a high-paying job, firefighting probably isn’t for you.

5. Trauma and Death: Firefighters have to enter and remain calm in potentially traumatic situations, and they may sometimes see people die in fires or even after the victim has been rescued. Firefighters have to stay tough. If you don’t think you could handle people dying near you, you may not want to be a firefighter.

6. PTSD: There is always the risk of firefighters suffering from PTSD because of what they face on a daily basis.

7. Personal safety: Firefighters’ personal safety is always on the line during the course of their jobs. They put their lives at risk to save those of others.

8. Long working hours: Firefighters have to be at work at a moment’s notice all the time. They basically have no leave or off days because they are always on call.

9. Low pay compared to the risk: While there are several benefits attached to being a firefighter, the pay is not that glamorous.

10. Downtime: Being a firefighter has its own downtime. There are times when the firefighter will be expected to stay behind and keep the lights on at the office.

This Post Has 2 Comments

  1. Anthony

    Con 6 has a typo “fro” -> “from”

    1. admin

      Thank you and fixed

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